Malcolm X
written by Spike Lee, Malcolm X, Arnold Perl, from the book by Alex
Haley
Malcolm X: If the so-called Negro in America was truly an American citizen, we wouldn't have a racial problem. If the Emancipation Proclamation was authentic, we wouldn't have a racial problem. If the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution were authentic, we wouldn't have a racial problem. If the Supreme Court desegregation decision were authentic, we would not have a race problem.
But you have to see that all of this is hypocrisy. These Negro leaders are running around telling the white man that everything is all right, that we got everything under control, that everything the honorable Elijah Muhammed teaches is wrong, but I'm telling you Mr. Muhammad said these things were going to come to pass, and now these things are starting to come to pass.
Now these same Negro leaders are running around talking about that there's about to be a racial explosion. Ha, ha, yes, there's going to be a racial explosion, and a racial explosion is more dangerous than an atomic explosion. There's going to be an explosion, because black people are dissatisfied; they're dissatisfied not only with the white man, but with these Uncle Tom Negro leaders that are trying to pose as, as spokesmen for you and I.
Just like you have a, just like you have a powder keg--when you have a powder keg, and there's too many sparks around it, the thing's going to explode. And if the thing that's going to explode is sitting inside the house, and if it explodes, then the house is going to be destroyed--I said the house is going to be destroyed! So the honorable Elijah Muhammad is teaching you and I, and trying to tell the white man, to get this powder keg out of his house--let the black man separate from his house. Let the black man have his own house! Let the black man have his own land, and his own property!
The honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to tell the white man that this thing, this explosion, is going to bring down his house. This is what he's trying to tell him, and more importantly, he's trying to tell him that if he doesn't do something about it, if he doesn't do something about it, it's gonna explode any day now. I'm just here to tell you, I'm gonna make it very short.
Crowd: Come on, preach, brother, preach!!
Malcolm: I'm gonna tell you about the honorable Elijah Muhammad's greatest greatness--his greatest greatness is that he has the only solution for peace in this country. The honorable Elijah Muhammed's solution is the only solution for you and I--it's the only solution for the white man: complete separation between the black race and the white race. It's the only solution.